Willian brutally ditches Fulham in favour of Saudi move just weeks after returning to club

Ciaran McCarthy
Willian, Fulham, January 2023
Willian refuses to celebrate

Fabrizio Romano has confirmed Willian has agreed personal terms with Saudi Arabian side Al Shabab despite having only just returned to Fulham.

If there was an avenue in which Fulham fans saw Willian leaving the club this summer, this wasn’t it. Last summer, when the winger agreed to join the club, he did so on an initial year-long deal.

As such, when he rejected an offer from the Cottagers this summer after that deal was up, and Nottingham Forest came calling, nobody involved with the club would have had many qualms with him moving, given he was a free agent.

However, on July 17, Fulham announced that Willian had agreed to rejoin the club, penning a new deal which would see him remain for one more year.

With that confirmation, the prospect of him leaving seemed to have vanished. Since then, though, the Brazilian emerged as a target of Saudi side Al Shabab’s.

Transfer insider Romano has confirmed that Willian has now shockingly agreed personal terms with the club, and his contract has been prepared.

In what’ll be a huge kick in the teeth for the Cottagers, the winger has informed them of his ‘intention to leave’ despite having penned a new deal just over two weeks ago.

Romano states it is ‘up to the clubs’ to take the matter further. Fulham could well force Willian to honour the terms of the contract he only just signed.

They’d be well within their rights to do so – it wouldn’t have been a huge loss for them had he decided not to renew with them and gone on to pastures new, but since he did, his subsequent decision will be brutal for them.

With the lack of loyalty shown by the forward, despite the fact they obviously wanted to call upon his services, they might well allow him to leave, not wanting to keep players around knowing they don’t want to play for the club.

It’s hard to see Willian’s decision as anything other than money talking to him. He had the chance to leave Fulham for good and decided not to, but now that he’s likely got a more lucrative offer, he suddenly wants to chance his arm in Saudi Arabia.

Had he simply waited a few more weeks, he’d likely have received the same offer, but it wouldn’t have been to the detriment of the Cottagers.

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